The Holiday Gift Guide For People That Like Music And Stuff

Christmas is well on its way and since it’s already been a really long year, we thought we’d put together a list of gift ideas for the music fans on your list. They often fall apart once the holiday playlists hit the malls, so below you’ll find an assortment of items they will actually enjoy — like memoirs, indie games, vinyl exclusives, portable synthesizers, and whiskey that burns like a yule log fire. Happy holidays!

What’s jollier than the big ol’ man in the red suit? Saint Nicholas getting his dab on in the most festive of ways — on a Christmas sweater that will rival your drunk aunt’s bedazzled cardigan. If you have a refined taste, you can also hit them with OG Mrs. Claus or Dabbing Hanukkah Harry.

Despite the 2016 film that must not be named, it’s been a great year for the Caped Crusader. WBIE’s Batman: Return To Arkham is a brilliant look back at the stories of Arkham Asylum and Arkham Knight, and it goes hand-in-hand with Arkham VR and The Telltale Series to create a trilogy (or quadrilogy) that can be experienced with everyone — including mom.

Dell’s new 13 and 15-inch solid state, backflipping touchscreen hybrids are budget workhorses that pack a punch. They’re stocked with 8GB of memory, a 1920×1080-pixel IPS display, and a Core i5 chip that allows for some serious multitasking — i.e. endless Chrome tabs, multiple monitors, and random Netflix marathons that can be done via the comfort of your bed.

Fact: The ultimate gift that any friend can give/receive during the holidays is alcohol. So if you need a gift that will take your #friendshipgoals to the next level, inject their whiskey collection with a smooth soul and a legendary spirit, courtesy of Drizzy and The Great One.

We’ve Come So Far… is Brooklyn photographer Ebru Yildiz’s visual retelling of the last 75 days of Death By Audio. The 200-page photo book documents the venue’s influence within the DIY community and the founders, residents, and bands who made it an incredible space for art.

The Lamzac Hangout is best described as the ultimate culmination of comfort and envy. Essentially, it’s a super portable, inflatable hammock (or couch depending on how much you like your friends) and it’s filled by “scooping” up the air around you — no pump needed. It also compresses to the size of the backpack it comes with which makes it perfect for parks, festivals, and the beach (it floats!).

“Indie” is slowly evolving into an overused term in gaming, but thanks to Playdead’s Inside, Campo Santo’s Firewatch, and Heart Machine’s Hyper Light Drifter, it’s become a precedent for video games that deconstruct the beauty of art and storytelling. If you consider yourself a fan of both, then you should also dive into SUPERHOT, Oxenfree, Abzu, The Witness, and the PC classic Stardew Valley.

Tranny is undoubtedly one of the 100 Greatest Music Books Of All-Time as it takes the history of Against Me! and weaves it into an even bigger tale of self-discovery. It’s honest, personal, entertaining, and heartbreaking, and it’s a piece of rock ‘n’ roll literature that should be cherished forever.

Whether it’s used as a simple desktop speaker or a loud, room-filling party starter, the Marshall Acton is a vintage piece of old school audio gear that can be connected via Bluetooth or a guitar-style 3.5mm stereo cable. In other words, it’s your smartphone’s new best friend (and more).

Master & Dynamic’s MW60’s are a must if you need wireless head-huggers, but if you like your gadgets wired, then the M&D crew have got you covered. Their noise-isolating MH40’s push a rich, pure sound and they’re definitely one of the comfiest headphones on the market today.

Moog’s new app recreates their iconic Model 15 modular synth and thanks to Apple’s Metal technology, you can use two-finger gestures to manipulate sounds. You’ll also find your standard set of modules, like a ping-pong delay unit and a looping sound recorder.

The Razer Blade Stealth is a high-end 12.5-inch ultrabook from Razer that’s decorated with an Intel Core i7 CPU, a 2560×1440 touch display, and a truly colour-happy Chroma keyboard. It includes step-up models with 16GB of RAM and a 4K display with each entry into the series being fully compatible with Razer’s Leviathan Mini speaker ($149.99) and Razer Core ($699.99) — an external box that holds a desktop graphics card and acts as a sidekick for your virtual reality needs.

Shea Serrano’s hip-hop opus isn’t just any New York Times Best Seller; it’s the greatest gift to mankind since the “Tim Duncan Dunk Show” (c. 2012). It starts with a foreword by Ice T and then it takes an illustrative deep dive into the unfiltered history and culture of rap music. It’s like Bun B’s verse on “Big Pimpin’”, except it’s a book.

Steven Hyden’sYour Favorite Band is this generation’s Killing Yourself To Live. It’s a 300-page study of nineteen music rivalries and Hyden’s humour, personal anecdotes, and marriage of journalism and pop psychology will antagonize your brain for months.

Microsoft’s premier console is now HDR-ready and 40% smaller (power brick, begone!), and the “Best New Variant” just might be the Gears Of War 4 edition. If blood red isn’t your thing, then take advantage of their 12 Days Of Deals promo which is full of holiday “doorbusters”.